The Road Not Taken by Treyvan
Copyright 2005 by the author, all rights reserved.
No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic or mechanical without written permission by the author which can be contacted at treyvan@gmail.com. If you feel this story is good enough to be posted on your site, please email me and immediate permission will be given.
This for the most part is a fictional story involving youth/youth romantic situations, that could contain sexually explicit material. This material is intended for mature and adult audiences, so do not read it if you are not of age, or if your country, and or region prohibits such acts.
And thank you for reading my story.
The Road Not Taken Chapter 2
I'm not sure what it was that woke me up. It could have been the morning sun's heat washing against my cheeks, or it could have been the idle chatter the guards ensued in. Or it might have been the pothole the van had just run over.
I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked around to try to get my bearings. There wasn't much to see, mostly rocks and short shrubs which was the norm for this part of rural Texas. I took a quick look around moving my head slowly so as not to attract the attention of the guards. The two in the back were engaged in small talk, the driver was of course driving and the guard in the passenger seat must have had a fixation on that clip board because every time I looked at him he was writing something on it.
Decarlas, my social worker was going over some forms in my folder and she looked at me when she noticed I was awake.
"Good morning." She said with a small smile as she went back over her paper work. "You actually woke up at just the right time. We'll be arriving in a few minutes."
"Good." I replied. I wasn't really looking forward to it given the situation, but my ankles felt irritated due to the shackles and my wrists didn't feel all that good either. Not to mention that I felt absolutely nasty from not showering for a couple of days. Don't get me wrong, I didn't smell foul or anything but my skin just crawled with grime and a shower was the only thing that was going to make me feel any better.
The van started to slow as we entered a very small town, which really didn't consist of much. A few gas stations, a restaurant or three that no doubt served up home cooking, a post office and of course the towns elementary, junior and high schools. There was more but I didn't pay attention to it. It was far from the big city and a little bigger then a village you'd find in a third world country.
'Just great, you've arrived in Hicksville, Texas, Austin. Population: You.' The van passed the town and turned off the highway to a slightly smaller two-lane road with no shoulders. We must have driven along that for about ten minutes or so before I saw any other type of civilization, which turned out to be the ranch.
And a ranch was just what the name implied. There were buildings for dormitories, what looked like an administration building and another large building adjoining the dormitories that looked like an oversized ranch house. I also noticed and made note of the out buildings like the barns and others that where probably used for storage. An ordinary looking wooden fence surrounded the grounds.
There was a guard station at the gate to the grounds where we had to stop. The guard at the gate verified the driver and waved us through and we began our rather short approach to the ranch house looking building which appeared to have the main entrance.
The van finally arrived and the driver put it in park. I got the final signal that this was indeed it, with the sound of seat belts that where being unfastened and doors that opened.
Someone who looked to be in his mid or late twenties greeted us. He wore boots, black jeans and a polo shirt with the ranch's logo embroidered onto it. Decarlas got out of the van as the side door opened, I had to give her my hand to help myself out because at this point my wrists and ankles where screaming with pain and the long ride had done nothing to help my muscles or joints either.
"Welcome to the Ranch, I'm Gavin Jones the site coordinator." He said as he extended a hand to Decarlas. The guards mainly just stood around the front and side of the van where I was standing, I guess to make sure I didn't bolt.
"Pleasure to meet you Gavin, This is Austin Sharpe and I'm Decarlas Thompson his social worker." She said as she pointed to me and shook the coordinators hand.
Gavin didn't waste time addressing me directly and asked how the trip went. He also gave some basic rules and what I should expect within the next couple of hours as I got settled in.
"Alright first thing we need to do is remove those." Gavin said flatly to the guards as he pointed at my restraints.
"We're actually under orders not to do that due to his... History with running away, we're ordered to make sure he gets put into one of the secure areas before we leave." Replied Mr. Clipboard.
Gavin let out a little sigh and shook his head, "Sorry guys but the Director doesn't want anyone entering this facility under restraints. We do handle teenagers with very rough pasts that may be flight risks and can act accordingly." He looked down at me as he continued, "But we also cater to those under rehabilitation and quite frankly seeing someone in chains scares the hell out of the kids and that's the last thing we're trying to do. So take 'em off."
The guard frowned at first then nodded to one of the others, who produced a ring of keys and went to the business of removing the handcuffs, the ankle shackles and the chain around my waist that the cuffs clasped to and the chain that hooked them up to the shackles.
I gave a silent thank you to Gavin, as they were removed and I started to get some feeling back into my feet, not to mention relief from the pain that they had caused.
"I think we can handle Mr. Sharpe from here. We do have a refueling station as well as a place for you gentlemen to rest for a while at the main guard station which is out over yonder." Gavin said as he flicked his thumb over his shoulder. The guards took the hint and started to pile back into the van, as another removed my things from the back and set them on the ground. Gavin didn't say anything more until the van headed away.
"Alright this way please." He said politely. One thing I already did like was just the fact that this man was treating me with some level of respect. I honestly didn't know if he knew about me before hand or if it was just standard policy. But then again this mainly was a rehabilitation center, not only for the wayward. It was also open to the physically abused, those under drug addiction therapy, and some that either had some sort of emotional trauma that they needed large amounts of help for, or those that just simply had no other place to go inside the 'System'
The main foyer of the building was huge. It was easily three stories tall but in the main reception area the only ceiling was the roof. Which showed the huge rafters that held it up in a log cabin kind of way. There were chairs, a reception desk area and the normal stuff you'd find at the entrance area of any large corporate building.
Gavin led us past the reception area carrying one of the before mentioned boxes that contained my things. I carried the other and Decarlas carried another small bag that had my stuff in it. He led us to a room that was of moderate size. Inside were a large table and a few chairs. A couch ran along one wall with a TV monitor attached to an opposing corner.
"First things first," Gavin said. "We need to get him out of that jump suit," he turned to me. "You have clean clothes?"
Before I could answer, Decarlas spoke up. "Yes I went and picked up all of his clothes from his previous foster family when he was found. I've also got some more of his stuff on the way that'll arrive later on."
"Great. This room is used for first arrival. It's has a private bathroom right through that door. Austin go ahead and get cleaned up and changed. I'm going to borrow Decarlas for a bit while you do that." He finished.
He looked at me with some uncertainty and so did Decarlas. "Can you give us a minute?" Gavin asked Decarlas. She nodded and stepped out into the hallway. "Austin, I've already read your files. The judge had them sent here last night. I know you tend to run away, but I also have the feeling that you do it for 'other' reasons than people may expect. I believe that this ranch could be beneficial and so do the other people involved that know about you. I'm going to trust you Austin; I'm going to trust that you will be in this room when we come back."
Wow. I was speechless. I was so used to fighting the 'System' and thought that this was just another move in the horrid chess game that was supposed to help people. I wasn't sure what to think. I looked at Gavin and nodded. This was different, but I still wasn't totally willing to trust anyone at this point.
"Promise?" He asked.
I nodded my head, which seemed to be good enough for him.
"Alright then, go ahead and do what you need to do. You'll find everything you need minus the clothes which you have beyond that door." Gavin said as he headed out the door, "we'll be back when you're done."
And with that the door closed.
Now I was pretty much left with confusion. Judge Dilling had sent me here as a last stop before juvenile hall. I had expected something a bit harsher than the treatment that I had received in the last ten minutes. I couldn't allow my guard down though. After all this was only check in, how was I supposed to know if this is how the place was actually run? For all I knew after my shower and whatever else they had planned, I could be doing pushups, or scrubbing toilets with a tooth brush.
No! No! Don't let your guard down Austin, something inside me said. This will be just like all the others, maybe even worse! The thought sent chills down my spine.
With a slight numbness I went through my things and found suitable clothes, then headed for the shower.
Why me?
To be continued....
The first few chapters are going to be setting the story up, then things will move on after three. Hopefully there will be more content as it evolves in each new chapter. A thank you goes out to those of you who took the time to email me. When you're a writer kudos for a job well done are gold, and I just wanted to say thanks because each of them made me smile :) Chapter 3 is being worked on and should be out by the weekend if not sooner. Any questions or, well anything else can be directed to treyvan@gmail.com